#JobSearch : Why It’s Hard to Get Hired Despite Glowing Jobs Reports. Recruiters Acknowledge, “Some Jobs Advertised are Fake”. What Say You??

It’s enough to make people who are between jobs question whether businesses are serious about hiring. After all, leading voices like JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon continue to warn that the U.S. hasn’t escaped the threat of recession.

Recruiters acknowledge the uncertain outlook is a factor and even say some jobs advertised are fake, designed to give the impression of company growth or build a reservoir of résumés to tap at a later date. It is one thing not to get a job—it’s another to feel like you’re being gamed. And it’s wreaking havoc on people’s self-worth and belief in their career paths.

I was mid-conversation with Katherine Braun, a clinical-trial manager in the medical-device industry, when she received a text from a recruiter. The message said a company she planned to interview with had decided to pause hiring for the open role—for six months.

“Same old, same old,” Braun told me. “I’m jaded at this point.”

She’s been looking for work since a one-year contract ended in November. Because of the finite nature of clinical trials, she changes jobs frequently and says she’s never had such a hard time landing one in her 15-year career.

What bothers her most is the way some employers seem to relish being able to string candidates along. One flew her in for several hours of face-to-face interviews then never followed up.

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Article continued …

Numbers don’t lie, except when they do

After vying for talent with generous pay and work-from-home flexibility, companies have reasserted control over the employer-employee relationship. Bosses who preached self-care now squeeze maximum efficiency out of their teams and hold out for “perfect” hires when they reluctantly agree reinforcements are needed.

One in 50 American workers jumped from one company to another in March, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, among the lowest rates in three decades.

Some workers harbor serious doubts about the government’s statistics, backed by the fact that initial monthly payroll tallies have been way off at times. The number of jobs added in December was ultimately revised up by 34%, while an eye-popping January total turned out to be 27% smaller on review.

Other workers who trust that Uncle Sam’s economists are acting in good faith still say you have to look under the top-line data to understand the dour mood in offices and the pervasive feeling that online job portals amount to nothing more than your résumé versus oblivion.

Meikeisha Scott-Parker, out of work as a project manager since January, recently cleared a second-round interview and believed an offer was imminent. But she didn’t get the job because she was overqualified and too expensive, a recruiter told her.

A few days later, she saw the same position reposted with an advertised wage that was $10 an hour less than originally listed. She figures the company either trimmed its budget or concluded that it could find adequate help at a bargain price.

“The truth is, had they asked me, I might have taken $10 less because of the situation that I’m in,” Scott-Parker says. “The market is so slow right now.”

More than three-quarters of the reported job gains in the latest month were concentrated in four sectors: government, healthcare, construction, and leisure and hospitality. Jobs in tech, finance, law and accounting were essentially flat or slightly down.

Picky companies and perfect candidates

Inflation and high interest rates contribute to many people’s sense that they can’t get ahead even if they’re good earners, says Mark Hamrick, a senior economic analyst at Bankrate.

“Housing affordability is miserable right now, and borrowing costs are at the highest levels in a generation,” he adds.

Even homeowners who bought at the right time lament that their investments can’t shield them from the fallout of a job loss. Cara Crabb-Burnham is sitting on a valuable asset in the Massachusetts home she purchased in 2020 but says she’s unable to borrow against the equity because she is unemployed.

“I have all this money tied up in the house, which could sustain me for several more months, but I can’t get to it because I don’t have enough income to show I could pay it back,” she says. “It’s this twisted cycle.”

Crabb-Burnham, a regulatory-compliance manager, has resorted to credit-card debt instead. She estimates she has applied to 500 jobs since September and landed five interviews.

Recruiters confirm the theory that companies are now pickier than they’ve been in a long time.

Joseph Jewell, a tech recruiter, thought he’d found someone great for a recent job opening, and was stunned when his client rejected the person. The reason? The candidate was a big-picture thinker, and bosses feared he wouldn’t be satisfied in a role that simply requires strong software-writing skills.

The position remains unfilled after several months.

“I just want to take my head and hit it against the wall,” Jewell says. “I meet so many candidates and think, ‘You should have a job already.’ ”

WSJ Author:  Write to Callum Borchers at callum.borchers@wsj.com